Method and means for filling boards



Feb. 17, 1931. A. D. MEISELBACH METHOD AND MEANS FOR FILLING BOARDSFiled July 13, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 17, 1931. A. D. MEISELBACH1,792,855

METHOD AND MEANS FOR FILLING BOARDS Filed July 13. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Feb. 17, 1931 UNITED TATE,

PATENT OFFICE AUGUST D. MEISELBACH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO WILLIAM J. SANDBERG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS METHOD AND MEANSFOR FILLING- BOARDS Application filed .Tuly 13, 1929. Serial No.378,047.

These improvements relate to machines for filling boards having aplurality of holes therein, usually arranged in rows, with shortsections, herein called fillers, severed from elongated strips.

The prime object of the invention is to provide a simple and highlyadvantageous method and also means for filling such boards whereby themechanisms employed may be simplified, cheapened, rendered more positiveand direct in operation, and more reliable, with fewer complications andrefinements in the mechanisms employed, and generally with moresatisfactory results, than according to means or methods heretoforesuggested.

Many of the foregoing general objects are attained through the provisionof means and a method whereby the ends of the elongated slender fillerstrips are first advanced into the holes of the board and are thensevered free from the remainder of the strips respectively, whereby thesevered end portions become fillers, without further operation uponthem, and occupy holes in the board as desired.

Heretofore, in all instances of which I have been able to learn, thepractice has been to produce such fillers by severing end portions ofthe strips first and'then forcing the severed ends or fillers, as smallpieces, into holes of the board. In this connection I may refer toLetters Patent to Bates, No. 1,118,098 of Nov. 24, 1914, to Brewer No.1,339,595 of May 11, 1920, and to Strickland No. 1,504,794 of August 12,1924. The machines of the patents mentioned are in the same generalclass as the one illustrated herein.

Specific objects and advantages are attained through variousconstructional features, and as will further appear from the descriptionand the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective of a simple and advantageousembodiment of the present improvements;

Fig. 2 is a substantially medial vertical section through the device ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section similar to the lower centralpart of Fig. 2 showing the operative relation of certain mechanisms tothe board;

4 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation of the right hand verticalguide of Fig. 1 and associated parts, some of those parts being inmedial vertical section; and

Fig. 5 is a fragment of a multiply folded elongated'piece of paper andconstituting a filler strip as herein defined, in partiallyspread-apartcondition.

The filler strip 10 of Fig. 5 is of a wellknown form and it will beunderstood that the accordion-pleat structure shown may be compressedinto a narrow strip which, on account of the folds thereof, is a fairlystiff structure and has such compression strength in its longitudinaldirections that it may be held at one end and advanced longitudinallyagainst the slight frictional or other resistance encountered inoperation whereby the free end portion maybe advanced into a hole in theboard. The present invention is not primarily concerned with theparticular form or construction of the filler strips. One in rolledform, or of cardboard stock, for example, would answer equally totheterm, and, in general, the filler strip maybe of any appropriateform, composition and construction. 7

It is to be understood here, as is well understood in'the art, thatsuch'filler strips as 10 have numbers or other indications printed ormarked on them in units extending'spaced apart substantially from'oneend of the strip to the other, although what I shall herein call therear end portion of the strip (being the upper end as illustrated) willordinarily be left free of such numbers or indications since there is asmall amount of the strip at that end used for holding purposes andwhich does not become cut up into fillers.

The arrangement ofthe numbers or indications on the filler strip is suchthat each filler cut off successively from what I shall herein call thefront end portion of the strip (being the lower end as illustrated)contains one of the numbers or indications. In other words, the severingof the strip is done between two adjacent numbers or indications on thestrip, such numbers or'indications being adjacent to each other in thelongitudinal direction of the strip. 1

Turning to Fig. 1, the main base 12 may be considered a casting. It mayhave legs or supports as 13. There are longitudinallyextending sideflanges 14 in the fore-and-aft directions of the base, and the bottom 15is a flat surface on which rests a board 16, the distance between theflanges 14- being such as to accommodate boards of various widths.

The board 16 may be of any approved or well-known form. It isillustrated as formed of strip material defining holes square in top orbottom view. Its essential characteristies are that it is a flat body.usually approximately half an inch in thickness, usually rectangular incontour, and containing a large number of holes as 17 therein, winch insome boards are of cylindrical shape, opening into what may herein bedescribed as the top surface of the board. These holes as 17 would nothave to extend entirely through the board at the time the fillermaterial is inserted therein, as at that time the lower surface of theboard may already have been covered with the thin sheet of paper used inpractice on both sides of the board, when filled. to maintain thefillers within the holes as 17 and to prevent their being extracted BX-cept in the approved way, namely by using a small punch to break thepaper film or covering on one side and to force the filler through andout of the board with a ruptur ing of the paper surfacing on theopposite side. All these details of the board and its method ofoperation are well understood practically everywhere.

The lateral integral projections 20 of the main base 12 are supports fora pair of guides 21 and 22 vertically upstanding therefrom and being atright angles to the plane of the boa rd 16 These guides 21 and 22 definethe relations of three elements or members A, B and C, each of which hasa plurality of openings therethrough, corresponding ones of each beingin a common vertical line, and being spaced apart in the membersrespectively to correspond with the spacing between the holes 17 in anyone of the trans versely-extending rows of such holes in the board. Eachof these three members A, B and C may be considered a bar-like elementor member extending at right angles to the guides 21 and 22 and passrespectively through holes in end portions of the members A, B and Crespectively. That theguides actually pass through member C is merely amechanical expedient and is not of functional importance.

The upper member A includes the main body part 2% having set screws 25adapted to bear against the rods 21 and 22 respectively to hold member Ain any given position of vertical adjustment on the guides. It consistsalso of a part 26 (Fig. 2) held by two bolts 27 (Fig. 2) with. wing nuts28 (Figs. 1 and 2) for drawing the member 26 toward the member 24. Themember 24 has a plurality of recesses 29 2) which are to be understoodto be of the same character and arrangement as are the recesses 30 ofmember B and the holes or recesses 31 of member C. There is a top plate33 secured by screws 34- serving as a cover or stop tor the ends of thefiller strips 10. Fig. 1 shows that the transverse bar 24 is recesseddownwardly at 35 providing an open space through which the operator maysee the upper ends as 10!: (Fig. 1) of the strips 10 and thus recognizewhen theend of the strip is properly positioned in member A. lVhen thestrips are properly inserted in the recesses 29 the wing nuts 28 aretightened so as to clamp the upper ends of the strips sufficientlytightly.

The member B consists of the main body part 3. having a pair of rearextensions 38 provided with a downwardly-directed notch or recess 39 inwhich respectively rest loosely for rocking movement the ends of theshaft 10 having a pair of eccentric cams 1-1 and a lever handle 42, thecams bearing against a plate 43 held for movement toward and away fromthe body 37 by a pair of pins. 44; carried by the body 37. hen the lever42 is moved the cams move the plate or part 43 toward the part 37clamping the strips as 10 between these two parts. Only a slightindentation or deformation of the strips is necessary for holding them.

Members A and B are connected by a pair of vertical rods 46 carried bymember B adjacent to the guides 21 and 22 respectively, these rods 46passing loosely through holes in the end portions of member A andextending considerably above the guides 21 and 22. Finger-operated setscrews 47 hold members A and B together as a unit in any given positionof relative adjustment.

The guides 21 and 22 are provided with a plurality of notches 5O spacedapart vertically the length of a filler, when the filler is severed fromthe remainder of the strip. The fillers are not usually the full depthor thickness of the board, but occupy most of that depth. or thicknessin the holes. The vertically adjacent ones of these notches 50 definethe relative elevations of the means for feeding or advancing the stripsbefore and after each severing operation. Latch or catch means areprovided comprising the bolt 51 (Fig. 4E) pressed toward the associatedguide by a spring 52 with a handle 53 moveable in the slot 54 forretracting the bolt.

A convenient way for applying the filler strips to the holding memberswould be first to remove the member A as by loosening the set screws 25and 17 and lifting it up and away. Filler strips as 10 could thenreadily be inserted the recesses 30 of member B and 31 of member C andpushed downward until their ends touch the surface of a thin spacingpiece of cardboard on the surface 15 of lie the base 12. Member A couldthen be reapplied and held by the set screws 47 at a position closelyadjacent to the upper ends 10a of the filler strips and then these endscould be moved frictionally into the recesses of member A, the entirerow of the strips being then made fast by tightening the wing nuts 28.

Turning to cross member C, it comprises a main plate 60, held by screws61 upon the lugs or extensions 20, and the auxiliary plate 62 held edgeto edge with plate 60 by screws 62a (Fi 2). The holes marked 31 areformed by recessing the edge of plate 60, plate 62'serving as a wallconverting these recesses into vertically-extending holes. .Both plates60 and 62 are slanted downward at 63 and 64: at these holes 31respectively to facilitate the entrance of the filler strips.

This member C constitutes guide means for the lower end portions of thefiller strips. When the strips are held by members A and B side by sideand the lower ends of the strips extend into the holes 31 of the guidemember C the strips as 10 (Fig. 1) are all parallel with each other.

It has been observed that the holes 31 of member C are normally inalignment with the holes as 17 in a given row of holes in the board; Theadvancing movement of the fillerstrip-holding means therefore advancesthe lower end portions of the strips respectively into the holes of thatgiven row in the board, and one row of holes in theboard is thussimultaneously filled.

In advancing the strips the operator grasps the free ends of the crossbar B and with his thumbs moves outwardly the handles 53, retracting thebolts 51 (Fig. 1) and then manually lowers the unitary strip-holdingdevice a short distance when the pressure upon the thumb pieces 53 maybe released, whereupon the upwardly slanting surface of the next notchbelow is encountered by the bolt which follows that slanting surfacedownwardly. The whole downwardly advancing movement takes placelargelygravitationally, and with assurance that it will be to thedesired extent only. I

A row of the holes having thus been filled by end portions of the stripsthose end portions are severed free of the strip, and, in the embodimentshown, by a thin flat knife or blade 66 having a sharp cutting edgenormally close to the filler strip, the blade being mounted to move onthe undersurface of the flat plate 60 and therefore being between thetop surface of the board and the guide means, namely plate 60 with itsholes 31.

As to be observed from Fig. 3 the knife 66 is immediately above andclosely adjacent to the top surface of the board 16. Fig. 3 shows afiller strip 10 as it appears immediately after the severing operation,at whichtime the filler F immediately below strip 10 is in one of theholes 17 of the board.

The cutting edge of the blade 66 is formed by slanting that edge portionupwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the strip is severed immediatelyon the plane of the lower surface of the guide member The cuttingmovement of the blade forces the filler F downward slightly further, tothe extent of the thickness of the blade so that, where the parts areformed as illustrated the filler F may, when out free, have its upperend flush or substantially flush with the top surface of the board. Itwould not make for any in convenience in practice, however, if the topend of the filler F projected slightly above the top surface of theboard after the severing operation, for, when the board has beencompletely filled, the fillers could be moved inward the rest of thedistance by merely ,assing the hand over them or by laying a flat pieceof cardboard upon them and pressing them down.

Fig. 3 shows that all of the holes 17 to the right of the filler stripas 10 illustrated have been filled, indicating that a plurality ofoperations have been already performed on the board. It is to beunderstood that in Fig. 3 the filler 10 indicates a line or row of suchfillers and that similarly the fillers F indicate a line or row of them,since a complete transverse row of the holes in the board is filled atone strip-advancing and cutting operation.

The knife is illustrated as being operated by hand, namely by the handle68 upstanding from a bar 69 to which the knife or blade 66 is secured asby screws 7 O. The plate 60 is provided with several slots 71 directedboth forwardly and laterally'to the left, and the knife 66 hasupstanding pins 72 adapted to travel in these slots. The knife isoperated by moving the handle 68 to the left. When the blade is moved tothe left the slots 71 and pins 72 carry it also forward. The stripmaterial is therefore sheared and, since the strip material is held byretaining means both above and below the blade the cutting action ispositive, accurate and without dislocating the strip from its position.Having severed the strips the handle 68 is moved back to initialposition. Thereupon the board is moved to bring another row of holes inalignment with the guide holes 31, and then the finger pieces 53 areagain operated to lower the row of strips another step, and then thecutting operation is repeated, and so on.

' Means for holding the board in a desired relative position are shownas a plunger 7 5 (Fig. 3) in a casing 76 having a spring 77 forcing theplunger upward and with a rod 7 8 connecting the plunger to a lever 79,the inner end of the lever being pivoted at 80 while the free endthereof extends to the front end of the main base 12 where there is afinger board 81. It is to be understood that there are two such levers79, pivots 80,

line with each other in Figs. 2 and 3 and spaced apart a materialdistance in these transverse lines. Each of the plungers has atits upperend a pintle 82 projecting above the surface 15 of the base. The pintles82 enter holes in a given row in the board, as shown by Fig. 3. Thepintle and its associated parts does not have to be in vertical linewith the strips 10, but since the fillers F are not long enoughcompletely to occupy the holes as 17 the arrangement may be asillustrated in this respect. Such pintles 82 being spaced apartlaterally a material distance the board is held against turning ortwisting movements. When it is desired to advance the board to anotherposition the finger bar 81 is pressed upon with one hand while the boardis moved forward or rearward so as to bring the next row of holes inline with the tiller strips.

When the unitary strip-advancing means have lowered to such an extentthat member B rests upon or is closely adjacent to member C there stillremains a considerable quantity of the strip material between members Aand B which contains numbers or other indications. In order to use upthat material between members A an d B the cam rod lever 42 is thrown soas to release the pressure upon the strips in member B. Thereupon theset screws 25 are tightened upon the guides 21 and 22. Next the setscrews 47 are released, and thereupon member B may be moved upward untilit comes in contact with or substantially close to member A, andthereupon the set screws 4:? are tightened. The unitary device withmembers A and B close together may then be lowered by loosening the setscrews 25, and when the lower ends of the strips are again inserted inthe holes 31 of the guide member C the filling operations may continueuntil all of the strip material having numbers or indications is usedup.

I have shown these improvements as applied to a manually operatedmachine, partly for simplicity of illustration of the important featuresand partly with view to showing a peculiarly advantageous constructionaccording to which boards may be filled quite rapidly and in anunusually satisfactory way and with comparatively little labor. I avoidthrough these improvements a vast amount of complicated mechanisms andshow how to construct a device free of many objections yet capable ofpeculiarly satisfactory results.

I contemplate as being included in the present invention all suchchanges, variations and departures from what is thus specificallyillustrated and described as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. The combination of means for holding board of the character describedhaving a plurality of holes therein for fillers means for holding aplurality of elongated filler strips with ends thereof directedrespectively toward holes in the board. means for substantiallysimultaneously advancing the tiller strips whereby end portions thereofenter and occupy respective holes of the board, and means for severingsuch end portions while so occupying holes of the board, from the stripsrespectively.

2. The method of filling a board of the character described having aplurality of holes therein for fillers which comprises sub stantiallysimultaneously inserting end portions of a plurality of elongated fillerpieces into respective holes of the board, and then severing such endportions from the filler pieces respectively.

3. The combination of means for holding a. boa "d of the characterdescribed having a plurality of holes therein for fillers, means forinserting the end portion of a filler strip of the character describedinto one of said holes, and means for severing such end portion, whileso occupying such hole, from the strip.

4. In combination, means for holding a board of the character describedhaving a plurality of holes extending from a face surface thereof forfillers, means for holding a plurality of long and slender filler stripsfor movement in the direction of the board, means closely adjacent tothe surface of the board having said holes for guiding end portions ofthe filler strips into respective holes of the board, and meansintermediate said strip-guiding means and said surface of the board forsevering from the filler strips the end portions thereof respectivelywhich were moved into holes of the board.

5. The combination of claim 4 hereof in which said severing meansinclude a thin and sharp blade, with means for guiding the bladesimultaneously forward into the filler strips and transversely thereof.

6. The combination of claim 4 hereof in which said guide means comprisea bar eX- tending across the face of the board with openings through thebar adapted to receive the strips respectively for sliding movementthereinysaid openings being respectively in register with holes in theboard.

7. The combination of claim 4 hereof in which the means for holding thestrips for movement include a bar-like member having openings adapted toreceive the filler strips with means for clamping the filler strips insaid openings respectively. said openings being arranged substantiallyin alignment with respective holes in the board, with means forreleasably holding said bar-like members at various step-by-step stagesof movement in the direction of the board.

8. The combination of claim 4 hereof adapted to fill simultaneously astraight row of holes in the board and in which combination said meansfor guiding the strips is a bar-like member closely adjacent to theboard normally held, and the means for severing the strips is a knifeoperatively arranged to sever the strips closely adjacent to the boardand between the board and said bar-like member.

9. The combination of claim 4 hereof in which the means for holding theboard in clude provisions for readily adjusting the board relative tosaid strip-guiding means to bring other holes of the board into positionto receive end portions of the strips.

10. In a machine of the class described, means for holding a pluralityof filler strips for simultaneous advancing movementthereof andcomprising a pair of strip-holding members extending substantiallyparallel with each other, with means connecting them so as to move as aunit, said connecting means including means for adjustably moving one ofsaid members closer to and farther from the other thereof.

11. In a machine of the class described, means for holding a boardhaving holes therein to be filled, said means including a support onwhich the board rests with the holes to be filled directed toward saidsupport, a reciprocating pintle carried by the support and being mountedto move into one of the holes of the board, and lever means for movingthe pintle in one direction.

12. In a machine of the class described, means for holding substantiallyhorizontal a board having vertically arranged holes therein to befilled, means operatively holding a cutting blade closely adjacent tothe upper surface of the board, means above the blade for guiding endportions of filler strips into holes in the board, and means for holdingfiller strips for advancement through the guide means and into holes inthe board.

13. In a machine of the class described, means for holding a boardhaving holes therein to be filled, a pair of guides adjacent to thesides of the board respectively when normally held, said guidesextending substantially at 7 right angles to the plane of the board,guide means for filler strips extending substantially parallel with theplane of the board, stripholding means extending substantially par allelwith said filler strip guide means and being mounted for slidingmovement on said guides, said guides having means for releasably holdingsaid strip-holding means at various distances away from the board, withmeans for manually releasing said releasable holding means whereby saidstrip-holding means may be moved manually on the guides, with means forsevering end portions of the strips closely adjacent to said means forguiding the filler strips.

14:. In a machine of the class described,

means for holding filler strips releasably comprising a bar-like memberhaving recesses for the strips in a longitudinally extending edgeportion thereof, a coacting bar-like member extending alongside saidother barlike member and adapted to press upon filler strip in saidrecesses, and means for moving one of said members toward the otherthereof to clamp strips in said recesses.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination Of a pair ofparallel guides spaced apart, a pair of filler strip holding membersparallel with each other, extending at right angles to the guides, andmounted for sliding movement on the guides, a pair of rods extendingparallel with the guides, said rods being adjacent to the guidesrespectively and both of the rods being carried by one of said ioldingmembers, the other holding member having means for securing both of saidrods releasably thereto, and means for securing the holding membersrespectively upon the guides, the arrangement providing that both ofsaid holding members may be moved on the guides as a unit or either oneof the holding members may be moved on the guides independently ofmovement or" the other thereof.

AUGUST D. MEISELBACH.

